[What to Watch] Three great documentaries to watch this weekend

The proliferation of documentaries often makes it difficult to choose which ones to watch. The three selected here take a fresh look at the life of a father who has lost a daughter, a gripping competition among cyclists and life-humbling moments at a hospital.

“Sewol: Years in the Wind” (2024)

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster which claimed more than 300 lives, most of them high school students on the school trip.

A father who lost a daughter in the disaster has put together some 5,000 pieces of footage he took over a period of 3,654 days to be released as a documentary film.

“Sewol: Years in the Wind,” directed by Moon Jong-taek, is different from other documentary films related to the traumatic disaster: It includes the bereaved families’ voices and their grieving process.

The documentary film shows vivid examples of the families' reality -- a father crying out loud out of his longing for his daughter and the bereaved families staging a protest to urge authorities to pass a related law.

“Sewol: Years in the Wind” opened in theaters Wednesday.

“Tour de France: Unchained” (2023)

This heart-pounding documentary, which follows the journey of eight teams taking part in the Tour de France, is a perfect introduction to those unfamiliar with the world's most challenging bicycle race.

Throughout the eight-part series, the audience can witness the gripping journey of the the cyclists and the dynamics between them, which are as dramatic as any Oscar-worthy film.

Tears and triumphs fill each episode, with exhilarating moments during the 109th edition of the monthlong bike race in 2022 which kicked off in Copenhagen, Denmark, and ended at the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

“Tour de France: Unchained” is available on Netflix.

“Human Chronicle” (2023)

Acclaimed documentary producer Lee Wook-jung behind award-winning projects including “Noodle Road” has released a documentary dealing with the lives of doctors at Severance Hospital.

Lee shadowed the doctors for a year, delving deep into what goes on inside the doctors' minds when working with patients battling diseases. The film also traces the doctors' past and how hard they worked to become medical professionals.

The six-part documentary not only focuses on urgent situations such as transplant surgery but other departments at the hospital such as a team of nutritionists and facility administration team to look at the hospital as a whole. The detailed depiction of an anatomy class, something new for a Korean documentary, is worth watching.

“Human Chronicle” is currently streaming on Tving.